🔵How to catch swarms of honey bees!!

[@kamonreynolds]

Here are the links I mentioned for the lemongrass essential oil: amzn.to/2SbDuXi And Swarm Commander: amzn.to/38b4ZFT

[@ralphcook4444]

Hay what is your link for ordering nucs

[@bryanwages3518]

Hello sir I have a quick question. Me and my father in law have a really strong hive and we are worried about them swarming but we think it's too early to add a box. We opened the hive today and they are packed. We are in Virginia and we are having mid 60 degree days and then low 20 days. What should we do

[@bryanwages3518]

@John Kasprak Thanks. That what we ended up doing. We had the same idea.

[@samhaydon6798]

I had a hive like that. Last weekend I moved a frame of honey and pollen, and a frame of capped brood from the strong hive to a weak hive that needed the boost.

[@PreppingAngel]

Are you in middle Tennessee? We are near Cookeville and my son wants to start keeping bees. Well, the whole family does. Hubby has experience but unfortunately he's a long haul trucker.

[@kevimc]

honeybee democracy-i am reading the book now 15 feet up, south facing, small entrance, large box for size -size really matters to the bees, great book based on real science

[@LarryDickman1]

At 65+ I'm not climbing ladders for bee boxes. :)

[@burleybeeyard]

I use 10 drops lemongrass on a Cotten ball. Put ball in a sealed ziplock and place in hive. You can smell the Lemongrass through the bag.

[@mikeries8549]

Hey here's a swarm lure idea I tried. Mixed everclear and propolis into a tincture in a quart jar. Painted it on the insides of new boxes hoping to prevent bees from gumming up the sides. It works and... Wow it smells good. Bees move right in. I'm still.using swarm commander too.

[@DavidODuvall]

A 10 frame box with 4 wire frames w/ starter strips in the center of the box and 3 frames with foundation on each side of the wire frames works great.

[@HMallory1]

Kamon I found a website named Anna Kra , I think you will be very interested .He is doing mite experiments for non chemical hives. I just found it and could not stop watching .You are always talking about how you like doing different experiments , please when you get a chance take a look , I think that you will be as interested in his methods as I am. Let me know in your next video or in the Q&A of this one what you think. Hint think Varroa

[@joerowland607]

I am way ahead of you. I have discovered a 5frame nuke box is just awesome for a swarm trap. I caught a swarm September 30, 2019. They are mean Russians but they are doing awesome that hive is strong. 9 pounds of honey or bee Meade to produce 1 pound of honey it is a very expensive resource. Melt your wax use a paint brush and paint melted beeswax on your frames. I use Lemongrass it works well. 3 drops of Lemongrass oil is all you need. Oh I gave you a subscribe. I am editing again. African bees are here in Florida If you suit you can deal with them but you will get stung. If you can introduce a queen and kill theirs off, you can, but I know beekeeper's who will destroy them they are not easy to deal with. State law says your supposed to destroy them. That being said, beekeeper's are outcompeting the African bees, but African genetics can exist in ALL hives even domestic their drones fly just as other drones. They having been bred down by domestics are becoming less aggressive. We as beekeeper's can overcome African bees. They are not the hell on Earth the press wants us to believe.

[@stufarnham]

Swarm season here peaks in May ... Walla Walla, WA. One of Thomas Seeley’s books has a fascinating description of site selection by swarming bees that provides great information. P.S. I have two noses and they never agree.

[@ArtyMars]

Why is it so cute that the cats are just vibing and hanging around with you outside ahaha

[@jeffpippin7072]

I caught a swarm right on my bee stand, less than 2 ft off the ground, lol

[@kamonreynolds]

They love those bee smelling boxes no matter where they are at!

[@jeffpippin7072]

@@kamonreynolds yes they do, but like you said in your video, many will say they have to be a certain height or the bees wont even look at it. Lol.

[@kamonreynolds]

@@jeffpippin7072 loldont I know it

[@yasminnilima2366]

@@jeffpippin7072 thanks for the information! Being a bit short, I like the idea of NOT being climbing the treetopps for swarms.

[@mikeries8549]

I've had swarms occupy empty hives sitting with bottom board on the ground.

[@donbearden1953]

Good video! My biggest and best hive of bees came from a swarm that I caught in by backyard and at that time I didn’t have any of my bees at my home. I noticed a lot of scout bees around my house so I placed an old empty hive out there and presto! In 4 days they moved in!

[@stefkadank-derpjr1453]

Yup...set a small fire inside my trap...put in very old comb, 🍋 grass oil and I've had luck. Fingers crossed for this year.

[@gileshoney5796]

We haven’t done a lot with swarm traps but, with our plans of expanding the operation quite a bit this year, that may change

[@johaunrivera3994]

Kamon I've been watching your KZbin videos for a while and I have never commented. I started bee keeping thanks to you,I'm up to 19 strong hives in Orlando,Fl

[@kamonreynolds]

Awesome thanks for commenting!

[@dougvogt8058]

I started with swarm trapping late last year, got a beautiful swarm, learned a LOT, and am excited to do it again this year.

[@SilvijaSilvi]

Thanks for the video! It's my second year of swarm caching that is not started yet and I am planing to do just what you said. Last year I had some swarm traps build from whatewer I had since I am just starting to get into beekeeping. Funny thing: I made 2 traps last year that were way too small. I was lost in information and first made them too small. I made some big ones too, some hives (love woodwork lol) and had only one old hive given to me that smelled like bees. Here goes fun part - newly made tiny swarm trap was the only one that had a swarm! Scouts were interested in one of new hives and some other traps but completely ignored old, bee smelling hive. I am not putting my money on this happening this year too and I am preparing good, well bated traps, but anything can happen :) So good luck for anyone who starts fresh, you can still catch some bees.

[@kamonreynolds]

Thanks Silvija and hope you have a great bee season!

[@danskisbees7348]

I love Swarm Commander!

[@mikeries8549]

I have three traps like yours up in trees in a yard with 20 colonies give or take. It got crazy last year. Be careful where you set an empty deadout. I set one on a stand by the shed door thinking "next time thru I'll store it". Two days later it had bees in it. and I still haven't moved it yet. ;)

[@raterus]

We just got 45 acres of land here in North Carolina, and I'm going to try trapping soon to get us started beekeeping. Thanks for the video, I've been watching lots of videos on catching a swarm, but you broke it down from start to finish.

[@tonyhash1174]

Hey Kamon. I didn’t get my question answered in your last live show and would still like to know what do you do with the bees in your starter and finisher boxes when you’re done running your queen cells through them?

[@kamonreynolds]

Leave a queen cell in them and baby them like a normal colony. If alot of brood has been added the mite levels could be high so they likely will need treated

[@AskTheCarExperts]

Enjoyed the video! I will be setting this up before swarm season. Using a 10 frame is a great idea. I will use your affiliate link to order the lemon grass. Thanks for taking the time to make the video.

[@rpeebles]

In Texas and got all 9 traps out last weekend using lemongrass oil.

[@rosssmith2504]

Great video Kamon , I tried every one of these situations last year and was real successful. Did have problems with those pesky bugs on old comb though ! Believe I was 18 of 25

[@kamonreynolds]

Very NICE!

[@beebob1279]

fifteen feet in the air means fifteen feet of ladder to climb up and down. I like where you have them. Sometimes safety is more important

[@beemanit9305]

Thanks for the video. Also Beekeeper associations have a list to get your name on to be called when a swarm is found.

[@Swarmcommander]

Thanks Kamon!

[@davidirwin5395]

Kamon: Watching your vid on your Big Re's load of equipment. and i have had the same experience on the joints now fitting properly. I takes a lot of effort to cut or clean them to get them to fit.,,,,, the problem is, when they are off a little. the top and bottom edges are off the same, Leaving GAPS that i don't want, SO i have to run them thru my table saw and trim off, both the tops and bottoms to make them flush and smooth, so bugs ect don't get in,,,,,,, so you lose probably 1/8" of box total, not bad , but its a pain. i really enjoy your vids and learn alot,,, ive been keeping bees for 5 yrs near ann arbor Mich, so winters take most or all of my bees , but i forge ahead in the spring. Im 71 and still working and learning lots , I love those ladies I have 10 nucs and 5 packages coming You are very educational, thank you..... Randy McCaffery is fun and very intertaining , but you are also and you teach a lot more,, I think your Great !!! thanks again Dave Irwin Saline Mi.

[@bradprather6749]

new bee guy here, thank you for the great information.

[@beesrfunny]

Wow interesting techniques! We usually use an empty nuc box with 1 frame of open brood, 1 frame with just foundation, and thats about it. We made a video about how we caught our swarm as well in our channel. We have different techniques too since we are located in Canada. Cheers and have a good season!

[@stefkadank-derpjr1453]

Well Hello...I need your help. I just caught a swarm in a 5 frame nuc this morning. I only put 3 frames in there. I'm new to this. Should I try and transfer tomorrow or should I give them a few days to start laying?

[@beesrfunny]

@@stefkadank-derpjr1453 Hello! We have 5 frame nuc box and we usually leave it for about 3-5 days. Then we put them in a regular langstroth hive and we add frames from their as they grow. Hopefully this answers your question!

[@ConcreteCaptain]

I never really payed much attention to height, I always figured I would keep them within reach for the same reasons as you mentioned, that is until this year, ol Yogi found one of my traps that had a swarm move in and I believe if I hadn't had that trap at like 5 feet he may not have noticed it.

[@raterus]

Yogi steals Pic-a-nic baskets, not honey

[@ImkereiWetzel]

Hi Kamon, interesting approach :) Our local government prohibits because of disease control (here mostly against AFB) to put ANY old comb or hive equipment out to catch swarms. Do you think there is some good intention behind that?

[@kamonreynolds]

AFB is an terrible disease but they are going overboard with that law in my opinion. I am not recommending crazy old combs just combs that have had a year or 2 of brood run thru them.

[@johnleslie7261]

First, I really enjoy all your videos. Usually watch when I am in bed, so cannot comment easily. But wanted to comment on this video. Last year (2019) I saw a video on an easy to make swarm trap and since I was getting tired of buying packages decided to give it a try. The particular plan calls for what is basically a overly deep 5 frame nuke. Made 4 traps from one sheet of 1/2 inch plywood and put them out in different locations, each several miles from my yard. One of them had a swarm about 2 weeks after I put it up, so I gave them 2 days to settle and then moved the trap to my apiary, to transfer the bees the next weekend. I estimated that there were between 3 and 4 frames of bees or about the same size as a package. When I took the trap down, I put one of the other traps back in the same location. Then 10 days later the trap got another swarm, but this one was about twice the weight of the first. Believe me, I am putting a trap back in that location as soon as the weather allows this spring.

[@kamonreynolds]

Nice! It really is a great way to get into bees!

[@deepspringsdiscountfabrics]

Very informational and interesting. Thanks!

[@robertshorthill6836]

Kamon, I'm in SW MT. It is near the middle of April '22 and though we are having a cold snap for a while, I plan to get three swarm boxes out on Sat or Sunday. Bees are looking for a new home, I'm betting. My 22 frame Layens hive is ready to receive a swarm or two.

[@hockinghillshoneyfarm9273]

Great video Kamon I've been building swarm traps for a couple weeks in my free time I plan on getting them out around the end of March and getting some free Bees I used your 5 frame nuc plans hope they work. Have you started making your nuc's yet that will be for sale or when do you start that?

[@carlmcguire2204]

Thanks your a great teacher

[@massachusettsprepper]

A lot of good information here on setting up swarm traps and all the different things that we can do to attract a swarm to our boxes. Thanks for sharing.

[@mikeries8549]

Experiment: Purpose: to determine which combs queen bees prefer. Procedure: put just one old black comb with 9 fresher ones. See which frame gets laid on first by an occupying swarm. Data: I've done this enough to say that every time the new queen lays on the dark comb first. Analysis : see data Conclusion: the queen will hit the broody black frame first every time.

[@lonnieperry8112]

thank you for you time and teaching. I have one ? which most wont touch. Can the bees move a egg to a queen cell?

[@bigd101866]

Hi Kamon First and far most I appreciate all your videos grreeeat info! I have 5 hives and all have screened bottom boards but this year im going to solid bottom boards for reasons im not going to discuss in this question. ive built a top with screen in it without a inner cover for air flow, also the top will accept wood shavings for the winter. Do you think its too much airflow? thanks again for your videos small town beeman

[@southernsawyers6543]

I had a hive in a tree for about a year. They left how long will the honey keep ...

[@Shamri212]

I like freebees.

[@stefkadank-derpjr1453]

Caught a swarm this morning. So your first of April would be correct for us here in Georgia.

[@timan2039]

My thought is that the older the comb the deeper sent and/or a possibly proven good home.

[@thedeerslayer2666]

Can a swarm be caught in an empty/fully assembled beehive? I've never kept bees...but would like to start.

[@kevinhoward4245]

I left a old empty hive in my drive way and swarm took up residence in it. I wasn't even trying to catch a swarm

[@kamonreynolds]

That is the way to do it!

[@gazinta]

Dip a QTip in it and pinch it between a couple of frames.

[@davidpatrick1813]

Wow, I don't know how I got unsubscribed. I think my 1 hive might be having what you called "after swarm". This is my first year and I think it already swarmed and now growing greatly again. I don't want another swarm and if possible keep but I am afraid to do a "walk away split" (which I read about). So am thinking to try a second super I have and set it next to hive 1 and turn it 45 degrees and try a lure. Curious if they will split and naturally move over or if they have to go fly off to split. ????

[@GoneWildKennels]

Question for ya. I'm getting new colonies and I was asked if I prefer last year's queen or do I want a new queen introduced into my 6 new colonies? I'm not sure which way to go. New I'm guessing but if it's only a year old queen why change things up . HEEEEEELP . LOL

[@NotTuDae]

The height is probably required for any northern states with bears.

[@leannkennedy6568]

I like your way of thinking by associating wild colonies to urban colonies.

[@CatherineCrowe]

16:50 "And there's a queen in there. Yes!"

[@bradgoliphant]

Hey Kamon, in a couple weeks I'll setting my hive out to catch a swarm. Yet it's a new hive and I don't have any old frames. If I were to just wipe propolis all over the inside and bait it with lemon grass, will this work? Or do I need an old frame of drawn out wax?

[@ChuckPackwood]

Down here in Florida we have lots of Africanized Bees 🐝

[@jerrygibbs2953]

Which lure do you say is better? Lemon Grass oil, or Swarm Commander?

[@kamonreynolds]

Hi Jerry that is a hard question to accurately answer. I have caught the most swarms using lemongrass BUT I didn't start using swarm commander till a couple years ago. They both work well. Swarm commander is supposed to be better but all the old-timers used lemongrass. The best lure is old comb and propolis hands down. I would rather have that than a lure but if you don't have it...... Maybe one day I can do a test on it.

[@Thatfishguy05]

Thank you for this video. I have been asking around and reading about swarms. This is my second year as a bee keeper and I’d like to catch swarms to boost my apiary size.

[@dbluehorsedeboe5567]

Do you have problems with hive beetles? Also I just set up a brood box and super on a picnic table in my yard would this be too close to the ground to catch a swarm? I live in Texas

[@lfrias78]

I’ve never caught a swarm so I am very ignorant to this so here goes. Do you always have a Queen in those swarms? Would you consider requeening that swarm the same year you catch them or at all?

[@LarryDickman1]

Yes No

[@barrydement5527]

Got a question. I have a deer stand about 15 foot up. Over a food plot. I was gonna put my 10 deep box that has drawn comb up in there. Should i take out 5 and leave 5 frames or just leave all 10. And will the location work?

[@kamonreynolds]

Tree stand are great. I typically only use one comb per swarm box and foundation frames for the other 9. This way I can protect the other 9 from a rodent that may take up residence

[@AssamBeekeeper]

Love from India

[@williamschulz6302]

Great video

[@muratgokirmak6132]

When you collect swarm queen old. What shall we do?

[@roystheboy]

Another good video for me as im starting this year in the uk thank you Kamon

[@susanolson3611]

Thank you

[@trichard5106]

Thanks !!

[@robertawestbrooks9531]

Wow, how interesting

[@bub1683]

Ok, maybe s silly question. How do I know if there is a chance there will be bees around? Do I need to look for beekeepers and do it close to their apiarys? Is there maybe half vilde bees out there and swarming? Kamon how long wuld you say a swarm wuld fly?

[@trinitybees133]

Is it a certain temperature that will trigger bees to swarm.

[@kamonreynolds]

Temp doesn't play a big role actually. There are many factors and Dr Seeley's book the honeybee democracy covers all of it wonderfully.

[@jphomebrew]

How far away from your apiary do you hang the trap?

[@docash2107]

The Honeybee Democracy is on my want list on Audible. Your Audible link does not work with the extension. W/O the extension it goes to some weird site.

[@kerneldavekaraoke]

Can you use lemongrass vitamins, if you take them out of the capsule?

[@AN-OLD-BEE]

Thanks!

[@Vladviking]

I'm lazy, I baited my back yard and had the trap out since early Dec. It's on the hive stand already. They know where it's at and feed daily. Maybe just might catch one. No old comb though, But I do have 10 frame deep, beeswax foundation, lemongrass, Tea tree oil, sugar and honey. We shall see. Good luck to all.

[@henryrogers8173]

YES !!!

[@richardkuhn8115]

Great video as usual. Lots of good tips and suggestions about catching Free Bees. Thanks for sharing that information!

[@mandimccleary8074]

What books do you recommend for beginner beekeeping?

[@larag4646]

How do you prevent wasps from setting up shop in there instead of bees?

[@smportis]

Frequent inspection

[@beemanjam]

Good information thank you for sharing your time and experience.

[@ECP]

Any chance I can buy a old frame or two or some old comb from you to use in a swarm trap as a newbie I do not have access to any... Thanks

[@thatguy3456]

Kamon do you know how far away bees like or swarm from there original hive. I was wondering so I catch my own hives swarm hopefully if they swarm.

[@kamonreynolds]

I personally think a mile. From my yards is a good distance

[@JeromeBeeFarm]

March will be here before we know it. Thanks for the video.

[@joshblick]

Realtor: And this house has old food left the refrigerator and there's some dead relatives down in the basement. Bees: We'll take it!!!!

[@helainegardner7971]

I am right now trying to get free honey bees so I made a beehive out of a Styrofoam cooler and I put some honey in it and I put some sugar in it and I put some rosemary in it and I put 2 honey lemon cough drops in it but I put a lot of honey in it so can you please let me know if that will attract honey bees thank you.

[@catsmandan]

How many frames do you normally put in the trap

[@kamonreynolds]

1-2 combs and 8 foundation frames or frames with starter strips. Always 10 total

[@catsmandan]

@@kamonreynolds Thank you, starting my third year with a lot of ups and downs, gonna do some traps this season and see how it goes

[@researcherAmateur]

@@kamonreynolds did you thray plastik foundation with the old combs. Will it work, i'm new with plastic

[@HERBALNATUMAN1]

Have never seen a bee getting to any swarm trap, have two near two beeyard never got one.

[@eugenepeters10810]

@kamonreynolds I am in a Africanized bee country, Namibia, and boy are they defensive.. But they produced honey like crazy... Love them....

[@markkarstad2899]

What do you do when ants come and work on clearing out honey residues? The box is untended by bees and ants see opportunity.

[@lewiswright7659]

Cinnamon is a great natural ant repellant. I have used it but I am concerned that wind and rain may remove it. Perhaps mixing it with a bit of shortening may help it to stay, even on vertical surfaces. Be sure to heavily overlay cinnamon on the shortening or you may just feed them instead.

[@salpta]

Oh no! Audible finally got him!

[@kamonreynolds]

Everyone loves free content but if it is to continue I need to provide for my family. Everyone wants their questions answered and/want me to "do a video on this or that" but all they want is free info that at one time cost me dollars and years to learn and source. Truly the better we do the better our content will be. Also, The book The Honeybee democracy is fantastic and free. It is a highly valuable resource for those who want to better understand bee behavior. Win - Win

[@salpta]

@@kamonreynolds Wasn't meaning to throw shade, it was more of a poke at audible than you. I'd love to be able to make a go at doing this for a living, and know that you've a family to support. Can't imagine the stress, so pay the bills however you can. I hope you can get a decent revenue from KZbin as well!

[@kamonreynolds]

No biggie I just kinda wanted to explain where I am coming from. It makes me uncomfortable to market anything at all but we really need to in order to continue producing vides as the year gets busier and the real money making starts competing for my time. (Nuc, queen and honey) I also really want to run a full beeyard just for testing resistant strains and bee products so this would help that out tremendously and again everyone benefits. Sorry if I sounded rough I was just trying to share kinda why we did that!

[@M_Ladd]

Forgive me but unless you are going to bread and deep fry those bees what good would they be without a Queen bee?

[@beekeeperarmy5058]

I can catch 10 swarms in one day by this technique

[@paulawaldrep3760]

Loved the Waggle dance in Tom's video! I'm sure his book gives much more info, but I very much enjoyed seeing the bees in action! You can Google his name and watch THE WAGGLE DANCE!! :)

[@kamonreynolds]

Mr. Seeley has alot of cool stuff!

[@kalebrivers5260]

Kamon I love your videos, but could you direct me towards a video talking about your hive cover preference. I live in the Cumberland gap area on the TN/VA border and I'm wanting to try migratory covers. Just want to ask your opinion on this. Im coming on my second year of bees and looking to expand my apiary, and looking to save costs on equipment. I can build the bottom boards an inner covers cheap, but telescoping are a little more work, and hive bodies I can buy a box for 1-2 dollars more than i can build one from a local supplier, but migratory looks simply easier to build an handle. Any info will be greatly appreciated. Love the knowledge in your videos.

[@bodacious2276]

Do cats just follow you everywhere you go?

[@kamonreynolds]

I guess... I don't know why!

[@sleeplessinthecarolinas8118]

Great overview!

[@yasminnilima2366]

I got an idea from this. A few weeks ago I started sprouting some lemongras for my garden. If I mix some lemongrass in alkohol I might be able to make my own swarmcatching tincture. Any thoughts on how long to let the lemongrass stay in the alkohol? Anyone in here tried it before? Lot's of love from Absolut Vodka land 😉🐝💖

[@johnnysmith9796]

I'd probably stay away from the alcohol, but perhaps you could do a lemongrass infused oil, Google herb infused oils for guidance if you dont have access to lemongrass oil.

[@yasminnilima2366]

@@johnnysmith9796 thanks for the help!

[@johndevenny3454]

Thanks

[@ericwatson8193]

Where is the link for book?

[@kamonreynolds]

Here is the link for audible: www.audibletrial.com/bees The book name is "Honeybee Democracy" It is a free audio book that you get to keep with the free trial. In the comments section there is also a link for the paperback book itself

[@robertmathurin3716]

Thanks Kamon,,very vital information,,🇱🇨👊👍🖤

cảm ơn bạn đã chia sẽ,chúc sức khoẻ thành công

[@houstonsheltonbees814]

Good information 👍. Hello from the Kentucky mountains USA.